The King's Secret
by marylou
Summary: As Balinor lies dying in Merlin's arms, he tells him a secret that will change the fate of the kingdom forever. A story told completely in 100 word drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

"NO! Father!" Merlin cried. "You can't die! You can't!" Behind him, Arthur stood awkwardly, out of hearing distance.

"Come closer," Balinor whispered to Merlin. "I have something to say."

Merlin leaned his head closer, tears in his eyes. Balinor whispered into his ear. "What?" Merlin gasped. "No- it can't be- Are you sure?"

Balinor nodded slowly. "I am," he rasped out. "And when his plan succeeds, he will be the most powerful person alive. You must stop him."

"I'll try," Merlin whispered. "Just don't leave me."

"I believe in you, son. And- I am sorry."


	2. Chapter 2

On the way back to Camelot, Merlin rode despondently behind Arthur, thinking. It seemed entirely too cruel to him that he had met his father just for him to die in his arms. Had it all been for nothing?

He sighed, shifting his focus to what Balinor had told him. If it were true, then it would change everything. But the difficulty would lie in proving it.

He would definitely have to talk to Gaius, and maybe Kilgharrah. And if what Balinor had said was true, then- then he didn't know what he would do. It would change everything.


	3. Chapter 3

"I have shown you mercy!" Merlin shouted, his voice reverbrating through the night with the power of a dragonlord. "Now you must show the same to others."

"Young warlock, what you have shown is what you will be. I will not forget your clemency. I am sure our paths will cross again." The ancient dragon spread his wings to fly.

"One moment!" Merlin said. "Before Balinor . . . died, he said something, something about Uther."

Kilgharrah relaxed his wings and settled back down again. "And you want to know if what he said is true."

Merlin nodded.

Kilgharrah sighed deeply. "It is."


	4. Chapter 4

Gaius glanced over at Merlin carefully. "Merlin, are you alright?"

Merlin snorted. "What do you think, Gaius? I just saw my father, who I didn't even know existed, die right in front of me. Of course not."

"But that's not all. There's something else bothering you."

Merlin sighed. "Gaius, how long have you known Uther?"

"Since before Arthur was born. Why?"

"And if he were hiding a secret, a big one," he gestured with his hands. "All of his life, would you know?"

"Well, I don't know. Again, why?"

"Balinor told me something, before he died."


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night, Merlin lay stretched out on his bed, poring over his book of magic with the light from the full moon streaming in through the open window. All he needed was one spell, one simple spell and the right time and the right place to open everyone's eyes and reveal the truth. And then everything would change.

His eyes scanned down the page. Nothing. He turned the page and froze, his eyes stuck on the spell on top of the left page. Maybe. . . if he did- yes, that might work. It was time to take the chance.


	6. Chapter 6

A few days later, a still half-asleep Merlin was dragged from his bed by an irate Arthur. " _Mer_ lin, in case you've forgotten, Camelot was attacked by a dragon a few days ago."

"No, I remember," Merlin mumbled. "Why would I have forgotten?"

"Because you were supposed to be helping with the clean up three hours ago!"

Merlin glanced out the window at the sun. "Oh. Sorry, I was tired."

"I don't care if you were tired or not, get out there and start helping!"

"Right. Soon," he mumbled. Arthur shook his head and left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin signed his name at the bottom of the parchment and set his quill down on the table. He looked over the paper carefully, rereading what he had written. He needed to get it exactly right before he sent if off. He finished reading and nodded in satisfaction, folding the parchment up into thirds.

"Merlin!" Gaius called from the other room. "Arthur's looking for you!"

Merlin hurriedly tied the paper to the leg of the falcon and walked over to his window, opening it. He shoved the bird outside and watched if fly off.

Things were moving faster now.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, there you are, Arthur," Uther drawled, striding down the corridor towards his son. Merlin ducked away from Arthur and around the corner, not wanting to be seen. From between the stones walls, he listened closely to what Uther was saying.

"Make sure that your men are ready. I wouldn't put it past some conniving witch to take advantage of the state the kingdom is in right now."

"Of course, Father, we're always ready."

Merlin poked his head out as Uther left. He managed to get a glimpse of his cold, dark eyes. It was time to act.


	9. Chapter 9

"Arthur!" Merlin cried out, dashing down the hallway towards the prince, a heavy book under his arm. Arthur grabbed his shoulder as he nearly barreled into him. "Merlin, what on earth are you doing?"

Merlin grabbed him by the arm. "Not here," he hissed, glancing around the hall.

"Merlin, what-"

"Come on, I have something you need to see." Merlin pulled Arthur into his bedroom and set an old book on the table. He opened it to a page towards the end. "Read it!"

"What is this, Merlin, some kind of-" he glanced at the page and stopped in shock.


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't know about this, Merlin, I think we should speak to my father about this," Arthur protested.

"But think about how surprised and pleased he'll be when it works! If you told him beforehand what we've found, then it would completely ruin the surprise."

The prince grumbled. "Well, alright, but if this goes wrong, then I'm blaming you." He set the bundle of herbs in the iron bowl and placed it on top of the table in the middle of the council room.

Merlin nodded. Outwardly he seemed calm, but inside he was freaking out.


	11. Chapter 11

Within a few minutes, the room was filled with all of Uther's advisers and counselors. When the king strode into the room, Arthur took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Father, I have something I would like to bring to the attention of the council." He held a hand out to Merlin, who placed the book in his hand. "This book was written by Sebastian Michaelis, the great witch hunter. In it, after careful study, I have rediscovered a method of locating magic users."

There were a few gasps of surprise. Uther's eyes widened with an indistinguishable emotion.


	12. Chapter 12

"Impossible!" Lord Simon spoke up. "If such a thing did exist, it would have been used long ago."

"It was well hidden, my lord," Arthur assured. "Difficult to find."

"And what does this locating- is it a spell? How does it work?" Geoffrey asked.

"It only requires a collection of specially prepared herbs to be lit on fire." Arthur gestured at the bowl. "The smoke will sicken those who have used magic within the last twenty-four hours." Merlin shifted nervously.

Uther stood, pushing his chair back with a screech. "No," he said coldly. Arthur turned to him questioningly. "Sire?"


	13. Chapter 13

"No," the king repeated. "Not in my court."

Arthur looked confused. "But father, imagine how many lives it could save!"

Merlin surreptitiously moved towards the lit candle on the table.

"Such a thing must be magic itself," Uther protested. "It is wickedness."

"The end justifies the means."

Merlin moved the candle closer to the bowl of herbs.

"No," Uther said with finality.

Merlin was there. He quickly touched the lit candle tip to the herbs. Almost immediately a cloud of silver smoke billowed from the bowl, filling the room. There was a thud as two people fell to the floor.


	14. Chapter 14

Arthur stared in shock. No. It couldn't be. He cleared his throat. "Someone go fetch Gaius," he said quietly. There was a rustle as someone left the room. Arthur stumbled over to a chair, sitting down quickly. He grabbed the book from the table. "According to this, they should awake any moment now."

"Did you know?" Lord Simon asked accusingly.

Arthur cleared his throat. "No. Merlin was the one who found the book and brought it to me. Why he would do so when. . ." he trailed off, glancing over at Merlin's unconscious body lying still on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

On the floor, Merlin began to stir, turning over onto his side. Almost immediately, Lord Simon drew his sword, pointing it at Merlin. Everybody else in the room stayed back, not willing to get involved in what was happening.

Arthur's attention was drawn to the other magic-user in the room, also still on the floor. He was beginning to stir as well, groaning as he pushed himself up, leaning heavily on one hand.

He raised a hand to his head, groaning again. Arthur's breath caught in his throat as Uther's eyes glowed golden.

"Father," he whispered.


	16. Chapter 16

Uther froze, his eyes on his son and heir. He turned, his face growing dark and his eyes cold, to face Merlin, who was still laying on the ground.

"What have you done?" he growled.

Merlin smiled weakly. "I am making my own destiny."

Uther rose to his feet, stumbling slightly. Arthur began to rush forward to help him before he remembered what was going on and drew back, his hand going to his sword instead.

"Father, what-" he began. Uther interrupted him with a wave of his hand, pinning everybody in the room to the walls. Everybody except Merlin.


	17. Chapter 17

Merlin scuttled back nervously as Uther moved menacingly towards him. He drew his sword and put it to Merlin's neck, not even bothering to use his magic. "I will kill you for this," he said calmly, almost as if it were just a normal conversation.

Arthur watched in shock. "Father," he croaked out from where he was pinned to the wall with Uther's magic. "How? How is this possbile? You can't have magic, you just can't!"

Uther turned his attention to his son, still keeping his sword to Merlin's neck. "The answer is simple. Power."


	18. Chapter 18

"Power?" Arthur asked, trying to distract the king from Merlin lying at the king's feet.

"Yes," Uther's eyes shone with a maniacal light. "Before, I was just another magic user. But then one day I realized that if all of the others were _dead_ , I would be the most powerful man alive. And I am. I am the most powerful sorcerer alive!"

The sword point at Merlin's neck slipped and a drop of blood slid down his pale neck and into his neckerchief.

"And there is no one to stop me."

Against the wall, Arthur swallowed nervously.


	19. Chapter 19

At this point, Merlin briefly considered doing something incredibly cliche like saying, "Yes, there is. I will stop you!" But after a brief moment of internal contemplation, he decided to take the easy route out and simply slid out from under Uther's sword while he was distracted with Arthur. Uther didn't even notice, too focused on Arthur.

"No one knew," Uther continued. "No one knew that I had magic. I killed all who did." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "UNTIL NOW!" he slammed the point of his sword down into the floor, right where Merlin's neck had been.


	20. Chapter 20

Uther pulled his sword loose and whirled around, his sword swinging dangerously. Merlin dodged and flung up a hand. " _Fleoge_ ," he hissed. Uther's sword flew out of his grasp and embedded itself in the wooden wall, still quivering.

Arthur's eyes widened in surprise. He had almost forgotten that Merlin had also been sickened by the smoke. In light of what his father had been hiding, it had seemed rather unimportant at the moment.

"So," Uther hissed dangerously. "My son's servant is a sorcerer, then? Have I truly been that blind?"

"Warlock," Merlin corrected. "I am a warlock."


	21. Chapter 21

Uther looked at him closely. "You look familiar," he said slowly. "Why?"

Merlin glanced over at Arthur before answering. "My father was Balinor."

Uther froze. "Yes, I can see it. And Balinor was one of the few who knew," he continued, "from when we were taught together, as children. It's almost a pity he is dead. He would have made a great slave. But you could easily take his place," he said coldly to Merlin.

"You are forgetting something," the warlock responded. "Everyone here has seen that you have magic."

"That is easily remedied."

Against the wall, Arthur tensed.


	22. Chapter 22

"With a simple spell, I can remove their memories of this. It will be as if it never happened. They will not know any different," Uther continued. "And then I will kill you. And no one will know." He slunk closer.

"I will stop you," Merlin warned. He raised a hand to Arthur, still pinned to the wall with his father's magic. He tried not to flinch as Merlin freed him from Uther's hold.

Arthur glanced between the two rivals uncertainly before he seemed to make a decision and came to stand next to Merlin, his sword drawn.


	23. Chapter 23

"Arthur," the king ordered. "Stand aside."

"Father," Arthur tried. "I won't. I don't understand. You have magic? And Merlin?" He turned to look at Merlin, betrayed.

"This doesn't concern you, Arthur. I can help you just forget it ever happened."

They were interrupted by a loud ruckus outside the closed door. All three tensed and looked over at the door. There was the sound of swords hitting, and then a thud as a body fell to the ground. A brief moment of silence was followed by the heavy, wooden doors swinging open violently.

"Hello, Father," Morgana sneered.


	24. Chapter 24

"I got your letter, Merlin," Morgana said coldly. "Thank you for that."

"Morgana!" Arthur gasped out. "You are here!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you for noticing, Arthur." She looked over to Merlin. "He's always been a bit slow, hasn't he."

"What are you doing here? And where have you been?" Uther snapped.

Morgana smirked at him. "I have been with my sister, dear Father," she said bitingly.

He paled. "What?"

She responded with her magic, flinging him back. The king fell to the floor, sprawled out. Arthur and Merlin drew back as Morgana strode forward dangerously.


	25. Chapter 25

"Yes, I know all about that, _Father_. I know what you did."

"Father, what is she talking about? What is going on here?" Arthur burst out. He looked confusedly around the room.

"Ah, poor, dear Arthur. Your little world is just falling apart around you, isn't it." Morgana turned patronizingly towards him.

Arthur turned away from them, facing the wall, his bare sword still in his hand. He took a moment to compose himself before he spun back around again.

"Alright," he declared. "Let me get all of this straight." He faced the other three with his eyes narrowed.


	26. Chapter 26

"You," he pointed to his father. "You have magic. But you ordered the death of everyone else who also has magic in order to make yourself even more powerful."

Uther nodded. "It was brilliant. My plan was working. There are just a few more I need to kill to be the strongest sorcerer alive. And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling brat," he pointed to Merlin, "who I am going to kill any minute now."

At this point, all of Uther's advisors and lords in the room were completely forgotten.


	27. Chapter 27

"Right." Arthur turned to Merlin. "And you have magic. Your father was that dragonlord that we went looking after. And then after he died you inherited his powers, so you were able to kill the dragon."

Merlin looked confused. "How did you know that the dragonlord power is passed down like that?"

Arthur looked insulted. "I'm not an idiot, _Mer_ lin."

Morgana laughed dismissively at that.

Arthur continued. "I researched dragonlords just a few days ago, after Camelot was attacked by that dragon. But why did you reveal yourself? No one had any idea that you were a sorcerer."


	28. Chapter 28

"Warlock," Merlin corrected again. "I am a warlock, not a sorcerer."

Arthur looked confused. "There's a difference?"

"Yes," Merlin explained. "Warlocks are born with magic, sorcerers learn it. I was levitating objects above my cradle a few days after I was born."

"And so you decided to come to Camelot, where all magic users are killed."

Merlin smiled weakly. "Just the ones who are caught."

Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes. Merlin let himself relax. It looked like Arthur wouldn't kill him. Not that he could have if he tried, anyway, but it was the thought that counted.


	29. Chapter 29

Now the prince turned to Morgana. "And you have magic as well?" There was a tone of disbelief in his voice.

In response, she held her hand out, a blue flame burning brightly in her palm. With a flourish she closed her hand, opening it to reveal the unharmed skin.

"And why are you calling him father?" he pointed at Uther.

Morgana raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "Did you not know?" She glanced over to Uther. "He didn't know, did he!" she gave a tinkling laugh.

"Morgana," Arthur growled. "Tell me."

"Why, Arthur, dearest, I am your sister."


	30. Chapter 30

She laughed at her brother. "Did you not know? He has kept it well hidden, hasn't he." She sneered at their father.

Arthur swallowed. "Morgana, please, we can help you. We can get you away from Morgause and the bandits who took you. We can help you," he beseeched her.

"Help me?" she laughed mockingly again. "I don't need your help. I don't _want_ your help. Especially after what Merlin did to me." She glared dangerously at him.

Merlin cleared his throat nervously. "Well, we're just having all kinds of secrets revealed today, aren't we."


	31. Chapter 31

"Merlin, what did you do?" Arthur glared at him.

"I did what was needed." The warlock responded coldly. "Camelot was under attack, and everyone had been enchanted to fall asleep. Morgana was the vessel for the spell. I - I convinced Morgause to withdraw her attack."

Uther began inching away from the other three slowly. Arthur saw him moving out of the corner of his eye. He pointed his sword sharply at him. "Don't move," he warned. "We'll get back to you once we have everything else cleared up."

"Son-" Uther tried.

"No." Arthur cut him off. "Just no."


	32. Chapter 32

"You poisoned me!" Morgana spat out venomously. "You tried to kill me! I nearly died!"

"You were helping Morgause attack us. I save Camelot!" Merlin yelled back at her. "I did what I had to."

Arthur raised a hand to his head. He had the beginnings of a headache. "Quiet!" he ordered. Merlin and Morgana fell silent and turned in unison to glare at him. "You two can solve your differences later. Let's focus on the bigger problem here, like the fact that my father has magic." He gestured at Uther.

Morgana smiled menacingly at him. "Yes, let's."


	33. Chapter 33

At that moment, Uther attacked. Merlin shoved Arthur out of the way, and the brunt of the attack fell on both Merlin and Morgana.

The king's magic flung furniture at the two, and for the first time that day they seemed to put their differences aside and worked together. Morgana deflected the projectiles while Merlin went on the offensive, sending a bolt of fire at him with a muttered " _Astrice_."

Uther just barely managed to dodge.

"You're not very good at this, are you," Morgana smirked.

"No!" Uther protested. "I am the greatest sorcerer ever! You will see!"


	34. Chapter 34

A mad light glinted in Uther's eyes. He spread his hands out in front of him, gathering his power into his hands. At the last moment, Merlin realized what he was doing.

"NO! DON"T!" he cried out, jumping forward in vain to try and stop the king. Uther dodged him and Merlin fell to the the floor with a cry.

Uther made a sudden gesture with his hands and Arthur felt the floor beneath him tremble. "Merlin?" he asked, trying to remain calm. "What is he doing?"

Merlin jumped to his feet and opened his mouth to speak.


	35. Chapter 35

"I don't know," Merlin answered hoarsely. "It's almost as if he's calling forth an earthquake, but surely he's not that stupid." He sent a bolt of power at Uther, but it bounced off an invisible shield, dissipating into the wall.

"Stupidity's not the issue here, the issue is that he is insane," Morgana retorted.

The trembling of the floor grew bigger, and now they could hear yelling coming from outside the room.

"Morgana!" Merlin cried out. "We need to hit him together!"

She nodded at him in response, and together the two raised their hands.


	36. Chapter 36

Merlin and Morgana spoke at the same time. " _Wache ierlic!"_ A bolt of power burst out of their outstretched hands, crashing through Uther's shield and sending him reeling back.

Arthur took advantage of his father's moment of uncertainty and lunged forward. At the last moment, the king dodged his sword, flinging himself to the side. His eyes widened as his dodge sent him dangerously close to the open window. He scrambled at the window frame frantically, but it was no use. With a mad cry, Uther Pendragon, king of Camelot and secret sorcerer toppled out of the window.


	37. Chapter 37

As the king's body hit the ground, the courtiers and advisors that Uther had stuck to the wall with his magic fell to the ground with a crash.

With an anguished cry, Arthur rushed over to the window, peering down at the body of his father lying on the ground below. Merlin and Morgana didn't bother to look. They knew what the end of Uther's spell meant.

Geoffrey tottered over to Arthur anxiously. "My lord, what-"

Arthur interrupted him, drawing back from the window, his face dark. "My father is dead," he announced stiffly to the room.


	38. Chapter 38

"So, what now?" Lord Simon asked. "Now we kill them, right?" he pointed at Merlin and Morgana. Morgana sneered at him. "I'd like to see you try."

"No!" Arthur broke in. "No more killing."

"What?" Lord Simon protested. "But sire-"

"No." Arthur cut him off. "No. The ban was created for false and unjust reasons. My father was wrong." He took a deep breath. "Magic is not inherently wrong. Perhaps, there is no evil in sorcery; perhaps it is only in the hearts of men."

"Ooh, poetic!" Merlin muttered.

"I must correct the wrongs of my father," Arthur finished.


	39. Chapter 39

At that moment, there was a knocking at the large wooden doors. Arthur gestured to Merlin. "Merlin, could you get that?"

Merlin went to the door and opened it to show Gwen standing there uncertainly.

"Merlin? I think there was an earthquake. Do you know what happened?" She saw the room for the first time. Tables and chairs were thrown around, the courtiers were slumped against the wall, and Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur all stood together.

"What happened here?"

"Um," Merlin said uncertainly. "A lot of things. It's sort of hard to explain."

"And when did Morgana get back?"


	40. Chapter 40

It took awhile for the removal of the ban on magic to be implemented completely. There were protestations from various nobility, but in the end, the kingdom was nearly back to the way it had been before the ban.

The knowledge of Uther's magic was kept quiet. Merlin had talked Arthur into allowing him to cast a secrecy spell on everyone who had been present for the big reveal. All that the general public knew was that the king had tripped and accidentally defenestrated himself.

Morgana was named the court magician. Merlin delighted in taunting Kilgarrah about it.

END


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